Anyone who's ever gotten really into fandom about a particular series will understand how tempting these tattoos are. Although we are proud of our families and where we're from — two totally cool and very common subjects for tattoos — we also often feel a ridiculously deep connection to our favorite stories, including television shows. We're glad the stigma of TV is going away — years ago, it would have been seen as absurd to get a tattoo of a TV show because it was the "boob tube," and the thought was that anything made for it would be terrible. (To be fair, a lot of old TV really was bad.) But now, in the golden age of television, we're enjoying the fact that television series are being considered just another form of storytelling. So we can wear our TV show love with pride and joy.
Of course, TV shows aren't the only way to get inspired for a cool new tattoo. For someone looking for a good starter tattoo, we recommend using this roundup of majorly cool and tiny micro tattoos and small ear tattoos as inspiration. Additionally, ideas for moms who want to get inked and tattoos celebs got in honor of their kids can help someone come up with tattoos that are more family-oriented, and tattoos that show off hometown pride are more about where we are from. Related to this TV show theme, however, are these cartoon character tattoos, which we love because it's always nice to have something permanent that reminds us of one of the best parts of our life — childhood. Connectedly, we are super into these Lisa Frank tattoos full of rainbows and animal prints, which totally bring us back to the '80s with childhood images that are so full of color.
Perfect 'The Office' Tattoo
Is there a more Jim-on-Dwight prank than the stapler in the gelatin mold? Not really, right? We love that this tattoo was found on the Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. Instagram page too. As one commenter so aptly put it, "let's get it on our hearts."
Extremely Cool 'Veronica Mars' Tattoo
Anyone who has ever seen the excessively smart show — which features Kristen Bell both as a teenager and again today, and her extremely cute father/daughter relationship with private investigator Keith Mars — will recognize the show's great theme song: "A loooong time ago, we uuuused to be friends…"
Hand of the King Tattoo
Followers of Game of Thrones will immediately recognize this ultra-realistic trompe-l'oeil hand of the king tattoo, which looks absolutely real and crafted from pure gold, although the artist does specify that gold ink is not a real thing.
Sploosh-Worthy Pam Poovey Tattoo
Fan of the TV show Archer? Then feast those eyes upon this excellent tattoo of Pam Poovey riding a dolphin, clutching two of her favorite things and absolutely rocking a turquoise swimsuit. If we had a patronus, it'd be her.
Nostalgic 'Aaahh!!! Real Monsters' Tattoo
Kids from the '90s will remember the joy that was Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, a Nickelodeon animated series about students in a school for monsters who lived under a city dump and studied very hard how to frighten humans the best. It was amazing, and so is this tat.
Incredible Mother of Dragons Tattoo
Anyone who's seen a wonky portrait tattoo (basically all of us) knows that portrait work is exceptionally easy to mess up. But this image of Daenerys Targaryen as portrayed by Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones isn't just gorgeous and unusual — it's spot-on accurate. Love.
Excellent Xena Chakram Tattoo
Grow up adoring Xena: Warrior Princess? This tattoo of Xena's signature weapon, the chakram, is so cool. And for anyone who hasn't seen it, as one commenter put it, "Xena rules!!! Beautiful!" We couldn't agree more.
BFF 'Daria' Tattoo
Daria and Jane Lane were basically created just to become tattoos, we think. How perfect is this Daria tattoo? We love that Jane has a slice of pizza and Daria is cradling a skull, a la Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Perfect Junior Soprano Tattoo
Although we've seen a few Tony Soprano tattoos — and we love them! — this is one of the best Sopranos-themed tattoos we've seen, and we adore that it's of Junior. As one commenter notes, "Best character on that show…ever…"
Super Cool Peggy Tattoo
We love in Mad Men when Peggy comes into her own finally — stealing that painting that makes men uncomfortable and leaving her old office looking like a complete and total boss. What an awesome image to have tattooed!
Perfect 'Twin Peaks' Tattoo
We love when Agent Dale Cooper expresses his belief that every day, once a day, we should give ourselves a present. It's such a good rule — and one we'd like to stick to as well, even if it's as simple as his: a cup of coffee and a slice of cherry pie.
Awesome Girl Power Buffy Tattoo
We love Buffy the Vampire Slayer more than most anything, and this tattoo is so perfect because it really sums up the message of the show: Women are strong and capable of anything. Three cheers for this cool stake tattoo!
Hilarious and Awesome 'Arrested Development' Tattoo
Anyone who's ever watched the show Arrested Development pretty much has to giggle at this hilarious tattoo, which references the Bluth's Banana Stand where George Michael works (as Mr. Manager, of course).
Awesome 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Tattoo
Nope, that's not Bernie Sanders, that's Larry David — surrounded by his signature line from the hit show Curb Your Enthusiasm. It's pretty much the definitive Larry David moment, and we love that it's part of this person's life pretty much forever!
Incredibly Detailed 'Twilight Zone' Tattoo
What the what? How phenomenally detailed is this tattoo! As the recipient put it, "It took over a decade but I finally found the right artist. Patience is a virtue my friends! 7 hours of work!" We love this piece — it's truly phenomenal artwork!
Pitch-Perfect '30 Rock' Tattoo
Tracy Jordan might be one of the most quotable characters of all time, and this line from 30 Rock is so perfectly memorialized in this tattoo: "Stop eating people's old french fries, pigeon! Have some self respect! Don't you know you can fly?"
Hilarious Pretzels 'Seinfeld' Tattoo
For Seinfeld fans, this moment was so iconic. Kramer gets a line in a film — "These pretzels are making me thirsty!" — and the rest of the cast tries out different ways of saying it. As one commenter who's clearly also a fan put it, "The best tattoo idea ever, I think."
Ideal 'X-Files' Tattoo
For fans of the show, this tattoo of Agent Mulder is pretty much perfect. Also, anyone else remember that song from the same era, "David Duchovny, Why Won't You Love Me?" Well, here's a link to it!
Heartwarming 'Parks and Rec' Tattoo
What is it about Lil' Sebastian from Parks and Rec? Beloved in the show as no mini-horse has ever been, he's also got a ton of fans in the real world. As one commenter says, quoting the show, "You’re 5,000 candles in the wind."
Hilarious 'Law and Order' Tattoo
Anyone who's ever been a fan of the long-running show Law and Order will get this tattoo — and why it's so hilarious. Our only hope is that the other arm gets a big colorful ampersand tattoo to match.
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